No Test Left Behind How Pearson Made a Killing on the US Testing Craze - TPM Features

TPM Features

Introducing Our Feature Series On Privatization

PART 1: The History of Privatization

How an Ideological and Political Attack on Government Became a Corporate Grab for Gold

PART 2: The True Cost

Why the Private Prison Industry is About so Much More Than Prisons

PART 3: Who Really Runs Your City-Citizens of Corporations?

Privatization of Municipal Services Often Means Selling Off Democracy

PART 4: No Test Left Behind

How Pearson Made a Killing on the US Testing Craze

TPM Features

TPM Features

enrique baloyra: Chicago teachers rebel over equity, justice for students - YouTube #CTUStrike #RedForEd #TeacherRebellion #PutInItWriting

Chicago teachers rebel over equity, justice for students - YouTube

Chicago teachers rebel over equity, justice for students

enrique baloyra

It looks like the #TeacherRebellion isn’t over yet. #RedForEd returned to the nation’s third largest school district on Thursday, when over thirty thousand Chicago public school teachers and staff walked out after ten months of negotiations broke down. Chicago Teacher’s Union is demanding smaller class sizes and wraparound services for the the district’s most underserved students.
In Chicago, the mayor controls the school district, and recently-elected Mayor Lori Lightfoot ran on smaller class sizes and addressing the city’s glaring inequities, practically lifting her campaign talking points directly from CTU’s long-standing demands. So, you’d think she’d be on the side of the teachers. That was her mandate. But it turns out it’s easier to make promises than to keep them.
The Chicago Tribune is reporting teachers, “want nurses, social workers and librarians in every school, and more special education classroom assistants and case managers — and they want all those items in their contract.”
#PutInItWriting
CTU Executive Vice President Stacy Davis Gates told Democracy Now!, “This is about breaking down systems of #WhiteSupremacy that ask for flexibility and demand that Black children [on the south side of] this city adjust, … [while the mayor] gives wealthy developers billions of dollars on the north side…”
The mayor and CPS CEO Janice Jackson claim these demands don’t belong in a union contract.
“Look, we are dealing with the impact of terrible social policy in this city, and it is unbelievable to me that people think we shouldn’t have a voice on that.” https://www.motherjones.com/politics/...
Nothing captures the spirit of the #CTUStrike — and Teacher Rebellion in general — better than that picture of CPS teacher and CTU member Halle Quezada carrying another woman’s child during a rally on Friday when the parent was too tired to continue.
It’s a metaphor for how every day in Chicago and cities and towns all across America, teachers not only educate, but comfort, encourage, and, yes, carry 50 million other people’s children into the future.
We reach into our own pockets when politicians fail to deliver on their campaign promises.
We bear witness to what happens when a system fails its most vulnerable members, and we refuse to take the blame any longer.
So, no, we’re not going quietly back into our classrooms. This ain’t over yet.

Chicago teachers rebel over equity, justice for students - YouTube

CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Why I Write Day Edition (10/20)

CURMUDGUCATION

ICYMI: Why I Write Day Edition (10/20)

I have an easier time understanding why some people write than I do understanding why so many people don't. Doesn't everybody need to? But then-- there are many things I don't fully understand, like why some people hate candy corn. While I'm pondering, here are some pieces of writing from the week for you to read and share.

Murdoch-Funded Anti-Gerrymandering Group Raises Questions  

Not about education, but this Intercept piece is another fine example of how the rich play the astro-turf game to push their policies to protect their interests.

Former Redlined Neighborhoods Have Changed 

Andre Perry and David Harshbarger at Brookings provide a more current picture of what has happened in some historically redlined areas.

Student Tracking, Secret Scores 

Apparently, at some colleges, Big Brother is looking at your admissions file. Is cyberstalking social media now part of the college application process. Washington Post.

More Loan Mess

Oh look-- the USED didn't just fumble the student loan forgiveness program, but actively thwarted it. The details from NPR.

North Carolina's Abandoned Charter Business

They set up a charter school business chain, and then they decided to move on to other things. What happens to charters when the visionary leaders vote with their feet?

Mapping America’s Teacher Evaluation Plans Under ESSA

Audrey Amrein-Beardsley and colleagues have done some useful research about the current shape of teacher evaluation-- and some of the news is good.

Maybe DeVos was a good thing

Thomas Ultican looks at some documentary evidence  of how bad a Clinton ed department might have been.

How Billionaire Charter School Funders Corrupted the School Leadership Pipeline  

Jeff Bryant continues his look at how rich guys like Eli Broad have taken over the business of producing school administrators.

About Schema

EdWeek offers a great explanation of some powerful learning ideas.

The K-12 Takeover 

Andrea Gabor has the must-read of the week over at Harpers, writing about how modern fauxlanthropists have commandeered public education with New Orleans as Exhibit A.

Why Are We Expecting Teens To Have It All Figured Out 

From Grown and Flown, a parent perspective on the kinds of decisions we expect teens to make, and how life is not always a clear straight line.

$1.3 Million Wasn't Enough 

How much did the Waltons spend to buy Louisiana education elections? Merceds Schneider knows.

Hidden Messages Your School Sends To Students

Nancy Flanagan with some thoughts about the subtext of a school.


CURMUDGUCATION

CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION

AND DON'T FORGET PETER GREENE ON FORBES CLICK HERE 

TODAY

ICYMI: Why I Write Day Edition (10/20)

by Peter Greene / 2h

I have an easier time understanding why some people write than I do understanding why so many people don't. Doesn't everybody need to? But then-- there are many things I don't fully understand, like why some people hate candy corn. While I'm pondering, here are some pieces of writing from the week for you to read and share. Murdoch-Funded Anti-Gerrymandering Group Raises Questions Not about educat

Shame

46by Peter Greene / 2h

The most shocking and disturbing thing that I saw on line this week had nothing to do with politics. It was a post by a teacher explaining her school's disciplinary system. As with many systems, students have a color-coded behavior level monitored and adjusted throughout the day. Unlike any school I'd ever heard of before, students at this school receive a colored card for their behavior level tha

OCT 18

What Ever Happened To Rebecca Friedrichs?

66by Peter Greene / 1d

You remember Rebecca Friedrichs. She was the face of the union-busting lawsuit of 2014 . Supreme Court Justice Alito signaled that he was ready and willing to hear a case that would revisit the issue of union free-riders, and the Center for Individual Rights (an activist-by-way-of-lawsuits group funded by, among others, various Koch groups and the DeVos family ) delivered with Friedrichs plus nine

OCT 16

Scorched Earth Education Policy (Charters, Watch Your Flank)

65by Peter Greene / 3d

This is you should ignore the old admonition to not read the comments. I converse with plenty of folks that I disagree with, both in the ed policy world and outside of it, and those conversations are largely civil, which sometimes distracts me from the fact that there are people out there who hate, hate, hate public education ("government schools") and the teachers who work there ("union thugs").

Are State Takeovers A Useful Tool

38by Peter Greene / 3d

Earlier this month, the 74 published an unusual article from Ashley Jochim and Paul Hill, both of the Center on Reinventing Public Education. Their argument is that state takeovers of school districts "remain a powerful tool." What's exceptional about the piece is that it is loaded with evidence to the contrary. I mean, ordinarily I would have had to go hunt this stuff down myself, but it's right

OCT 15

Betsy DeVos, Polly Williams, Vouchers, And Selective Facts

65by Peter Greene / 4d

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos kicked off her back to school tour at the Saint Marcus Lutheran School in Milwaukee a few weeks ago. This piece ran back then at Forbes, and I don't repost everything from there, but we've developed such goldfish memories under this administration, I'm going to trot this one out again here. Because we need to remember what the threat to public education is. The

OCT 14

Fake Slaughter And The Liberal Arts

33by Peter Greene / 5d

The interwebs are abuzz with a video shown in some side room by some assortment of Trumpists at the American Priority gathering held at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. There are questions about who brought it, who showed it, and how it had already been kicking around the internet, but there's no question that the whole thing is pretty brutal. In the clip, a bunch of faces and logos have been cyber-past

OCT 13

ICYMI: Quiet Sunday Edition (10/13)

by Peter Greene / 6d

It's a quiet day in these parts, but there is still some reading to do from the previous week. Here are some pieces you might want to catch up on. Don't forget to share-- The Walton Takeover of Public Education Continues The Arkansas blog looks at what our favorite retail oligarchs are up to in their home state. Five Signs Your Reform Has Become Another Education Fad Rick Hess at EdWeek makes a us

OCT 12

KY: Pushing Old Charter Myths In A New Market

23by Peter Greene / 7d

Kentucky has spent a bunch of time in charter limbo --there is a charter law on the books, but the legislature wouldn't fund it and l ocal districts are (shocker) unwilling to share their aready-meager funding. So Kentucky remains a fresh 

CURMUDGUCATION

Education in America: Of Hungry Wolves and Docile Sheep - LA Progressive

Education in America: Of Hungry Wolves and Docile Sheep - LA Progressive

Education in America: Of Hungry Wolves and Docile Sheep

I was educated in public schools by dedicated teachers in the pre-digital age.  My teachers read books to me and had me read books.  I learned math, partly by rote, but also through friendly student competitions.  Science I learned by doing, like chemistry with Bunsen burners and test tubes.  I had classes in art and music, and even though I had little talent in drawing or playing an instrument, I still learned to appreciate both subjects.  My high school was big and diverse, so I took electives in courses I really enjoyed, like science fiction, photography, even a course in aquariology, in which I built my own aquarium.  And I must say I’m glad there wasn’t the distraction of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and similar social media sites to torment me; video games, meanwhile, were in my day still crude, so I spent more time outside, playing tennis, riding my bike, hanging with friends, being in the world and nature (fishing was a favorite pursuit).

When I graduated from high school, I felt like I had a solid grounding: that I knew enough to make educated choices; that I could participate as a citizen by voting intelligently when I was eighteen.

When I was a teen, we learned a lot about history and civics and the humanities.  We spent time in the library, researching and writing.  I took a debate course and learned how to construct an argument and speak before an audience.  When I graduated from high school, I felt like I had a solid grounding: that I knew enough to make educated choices; that I could participate as a citizen by voting intelligently when I was eighteen.

Something has happened to education in America.  You can see it in the big trends that are being hyped, including STEM, vocational training, computers and online courses, and privatization (charter schools).  What suffers from these trends is the humanities, the arts, unionized teachers, critical and creative thinking skills, and, most CONTINUE READING: Education in America: Of Hungry Wolves and Docile Sheep - LA Progressive

Teacher Activism: The One, the Only, the Great Karen Lewis | Diane Ravitch's blog

Teacher Activism: The One, the Only, the Great Karen Lewis | Diane Ravitch's blog

Teacher Activism: The One, the Only, the Great Karen Lewis

Karen Lewis is the inspiration for today’s teacher’s strikes.

She is one of a kind.

She is a hero, a woman of courage, character, integrity, intellect, and steel.

The Chicago Teachers Union just released this video tribute to Karen.

Karen is a product of the Chicago Public Schools. She went to elite Ivy League colleges, first to Mount Holyoke, then transferred to Dartmouth College, where she was the only African American female in the class of 1974.

Karen returned to Chicago and became a chemistry teacher in the Chicago Public Schools, where she taught for 22 years.

In 2010, an upstart group of unionists called the Caucus of Rank and File Educators (CORE) ousted the leadership of the Chicago Teachers Union and elected Karen Lewis as its president. The new leadership cut its own salaries and began building relationships with community organizations and parents.

The city’s political and financial elite rewrote state law in hopes of preventing the union from striking. Assisted by Jonah Edelman of the turncoat “Stand for Children,” the city’s financial elite hired the state’s top lobbyists (so that none would be available to help the union), raised CONTINUE READING: Teacher Activism: The One, the Only, the Great Karen Lewis | Diane Ravitch's blog